This position is probably the second most difficult neutral after Rhudaur. When playing the Easterlings you start of with lots of pop centres, a good resource base and a large starting army. Unfortunately your pop centres are spread out across the map and are within striking distance of either the DS or the FP armies/agents. Whichever way you declare, this position usually means you lose some of you pop centres and characters to the other side. I recommend that when playing this position ponder carefully before openly declaring. Keep the two allegiances guessing as to your intentions. Take your time before declaring and choose only when the situation suites you. This is a challenging position but you have the capability to field one of the best cav armies of all the nations of ME. Make use of it. If you time your declaration right, and prepare properly, you can quickly capture a huge chunk of either the Northmen's or Long Riders territory.
Strategy Guide by Brian Mason
Strategy Guide by Tom Walton
Strategy Guide by William 'Rock' Chasco
Easterlings Start Information
Strategy & Tactics: The Easterlings
From Brian Mason
The position of the Easterlings is difficult and challenging, but to get things rolling, lets once more start with an analysis of general information.
Basic Data
How do the Easterlings compare to other nations? At the start of the game they rank as follows (Allegiance Comparison Tables, Tom Walton, "The Mouth," #3):
among all
among Neutrals
Total Tax Base
tied for 6th
3rd
Resource Base
7th
2nd
Combat Strength
5th
1st
Character points
tied for 20th
3rd
Artefacts
19th
3rd
The Easterlings have pretty good production, especially in the resources to make more cavalry. Expected production (Population Centre Development, Brian Mason, The Mouth," #2) which has not been adjusted for climate for the Easterlings would be as follows:
le
br
st
mi
fo
ti
mo
go
production
1895
122
103
5540
241
448
1863
Choosing Alliances and the Consequences found therein
Because of the spread out nature of the Easterling population centres, the Easterling player faces the prospect of losing many of his population centres when he opts for one alliance or the other.
Most of the population centres are in the south, in the back yard of the Cloud Lord and the Blind Sorcerer; however, the table below will indicate some of the problems faced by the Easterlings player. The first column gives the hex location, the second the size of the population centre, the third what fortifications are present (if any), the fourth column identifies whether or not it appears on your player map, the fifth lists who else can see the location on their map while the last lists to whom the population centre is initially most vulnerable.
LOC
SIZE
FORT
MAP?
WHOSE?
VULNERABLE
3538
town
none
off
none
17, 21
3220
camp
none
off
lots!
lots!
3713
town
none
off
2,3
2,3
4228
major town
none
on
15
14,15,19
4430
town
none
off
none
???
3605
town
none
off
2
2,8
4318
town
none
off
19
2,3,19
4335
town
none
on
none
???
4014
town
tower
off
2
2,3,8,19
4133
city
castle
on
14,15
14,15,19
3319
town
none
off
lots!
lots!
This, then, identifies the big problems with the Easterlings. An abundance of unfortified population centres and the inability to determine (without effective reports from allies or potential allies) whether or not they are at risk.
Joining the Dark Servants would mean possibly surrendering three towns (3713, 3605, and 4014) as undefendable. With two other towns and a camp (4014, 3220 and 3319) in a very debatable area.
Joining the Free Peoples the prospects are even worse with your major town and city within striking distance of the armies of the Cloud Lord, Blind Sorcerer and Long Rider. Add to this the unwholesome prospect of having your capital within one turns march of the agents of the Cloud Lord and you have a perilous position in which to be.
So, then what is an Easterling player to do? You have an effective military to conduct offensives early, however, your economy is such in the early game that you do not need to tip your hand but can wait and negotiate with both sides.
I will freely admit being stymied by this position. There does not appear to be any clear set of "best" moves to take, whether you are planning for a fast strike against one side or the other. Faced with this, let me make a few observations and cut this S&T article rather short:
The series of rough hexes (4429, 4330, 4431, 4332, 4433, 4334) on the south of your eastern edge are off everybody else's map. These would make good places to place camps. They will produce some of the resources you need most (metals for armour and timber for fortifications). Also, consider defensive placement of camps. Putting them in places from where you could be vulnerable in the later stages of the game. For example, the rough hexes to the east off your map and especially those along the road to the south.
Due to your probable production of leather, mounts, and food, you are one of the few positions which is likely to be able to recruit heavy cavalry every turn from turn one. Take advantage of this.
In line with this, consider junking the two starting infantry armies or moving them to your major town to offer some defence until you can afford fortifications. In all events, get rid of the men-at-arms. They are a waste.
You start the game with a pretty good crop of mages. Keep them training and grouping them for key offensive or defensive spell actions at the right battle can surprise an unsuspecting foe.
Your town at 3538 could be a key to letting you know of impending invasions of the Corsairs or Quiet Avenger if one, it had fortifications to slow somebody down, and two, if it were a major town or city and provided you with recons. Both of these would be good options.
Talk tough, but take less. A strong stance will keep many aligned nations off your population centres in the early game, but if you are negotiating later do not negotiate to tough (especially with the Dark Servants). They might give you the 10000 timber now, and plan on taking out you with agent action in the end game.
Because of your low level of fortifications raising taxes too high is inadvisable. Take it to 55% or so, but not much higher. Use the excess to name emissaries and create population centres (and then improve them) in the aforementioned hexes. Improve your tax base so that when (not if) you start losing population centres when you join an alliance you will have this additional tax base to cover the loss.
Keep the resources at the right spots to recruit your heavy cavalry, but don't recruit it until you are ready. They are simply too expensive to graze for ten turns while you decide which alliance to join.
Finally, for those, like me, who strive for the greatest degree of 'historical accuracy' I offer the following culled from the pages of "The Silmarillion." If you decide to go Free, Easterling names include: Bor, Borlad, Borlach, and Borthand, while Dark Servant Easterlings might opt for: Ulfang the Black, Ulfast, Ulwarth, and Uldor the Accursed (see "The Silmarillion," 157-193).
Strategy & Tactics: The Easterlings
From Tom Walton
I've played the Easterlings once. The game was so unusual in terms of in-fighting that I'm sure my experiences with the nation were anything but normal (more Dark Servant characters were killed by other Dark Servants than by Free Peoples). By the time I left, I was allied with one Dark Servant, friendly with a team of three Free Peoples, and at war with two other Free Peoples and three Dark Servants. Sounds confusing? Try playing under those conditions; it's enough to give one headaches (I ended up transferring my nation to the Fire King and boosting him to first place - let HIM deal with the weirdness!).
The point here is that my suggestions for the Easterlings are based upon some strategy that might not work in a normal game (not to mention a healthy dose of paranoia). Indeed, what I did might very well be disastrous in a game where everyone isn't slitting the throat of a nearby team-mate in an attempt to take first place. As always, buyer beware.
At the Start
At the start of the game, the Easterlings are fortunate enough to possess one of the most effective military forces around - lots of cav positioned on the most perfect terrain one could hope for (plains and roads). In fact, of all the neutrals only Rhudaur is better able to immediately join the fray on turn 1.
An Easterling so tempted to get into the action immediately could do so, but I'd recommend against it. Regardless of the target, the starting armies of both sides are large enough to trounce the Easterlings and do some serious damage to his pop centres besides. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to jump in while the enemy's fresh, when you could wait a half-dozen turns and mop up what's left following the climactic battles in the Ithilien and Rhovanion.
Playing the waiting game can be most beneficial to Easterling interests at this point.
The major weakness of the position is the placement and quality of it's pop centres. First, they're spread out across half the map, with many in hotly-contested regions. Second, most aren't fortified worth a damn, so even a small army could capture or destroy them without working up a sweat. Should either allegiance take it into their heads to do the Easterlings some damage, it wouldn't be too hard to accomplish.
So, how do you fend off the avaricious allegiances, both of which (rightly) eye you askance and lust after your towns? Much as I hate to say it, diplomacy is the key at the start. Not much, thankfully, but if you wish to remain intact you need to convince your neighbours that you mean them no harm at the opening of the game. Talk sweetly, at least until the bloated corpses of their troops are rotting in the hot southern sun outside of Mordor. Forget the big stick for now.
The Military
Having one of the best military forces around is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it makes potential enemies think twice about ticking you off; a curse, because of the detrimental effect it has on your treasury.
I suggest a rapid build-up for the Easterlings. As Brian said, the Easterlings are in a good position to begin recruiting more heavy cav right away. Here's a sample opening:
disband all of the infantry in the south. It takes too long to march them up the road and get them into action. Also disband the light troops in the north.
begin recruiting heavy cav at the capitol immediately.
begin recruiting 300 HI at each of the two pop centres in the north.
This adds 1100 heavy troops a turn to your forces, all of which are in a good place (or can rapidly be in a good place) to mount an attack. While you're doing this, the allegiances will be creaming each other en masse, making your potential for destruction and mayhem that much greater.
Once turn 6 rolls around, two things will happen. First, your economy will be at the breaking point in terms of maintenance, even if you've raised your taxes and sold your excess goods. Second, the starting troops of most nations will be feeding the crows, and the treasuries of these nations will be exhausted. This gives you the window of opportunity required to make a very effective, and devastating, strike.
Now comes the time to choose an allegiance. I favour the Dark Servants for this position, primarily because you can't defend against agent attacks (your characters aren't good enough). You also have the benefit of knowing that most of the Free forces in the Rhovanion are gone, while in Mordor the Dark Servants will still be raising troops like crazy to feed to the meat grinder of the Ithilien.
Should you choose to go evil, the two HI armies in the north can move on Northmen/Northern Gondor pop centres immediately. The cav in the south, with proper timing, can also strike in the same area.
I did this and destroyed seven towns/major towns in two turns (although I'd recommend capture in a normal game). With a well-timed blow, you can seize most of the Northmen's assets and force him out of the game, positioning your troops for a quick march right into the Eothraim core area.
Done properly, the blitzkrieg will boost you into first place and secure your holdings in the Rhovanion before anyone else can effectively lay claim to them. It will also spell the doom of the Gondors.
The Military: After the Blitz
Once the southern Rhovanion is yours, don't go against the Gondors. No doubt the Dark Servants will be ticked that you took all the good stuff from the Northmen and Eothraim and will be plotting your downfall. Let them plot to their hearts content, but also let them fight the Gondors and their Free allies on their own. This will keep them suitably occupied while you consolidate your position.
First, move your recruiting base north. It doesn't matter if you've captured everything and there aren't any major towns; you don't stand much chance of running into a whole lot of opposition at this point. Recruit cav only, and make sure it's good-quality: bronze weapons/steel armour. Second, send the remainder of your heavy infantry and poor-quality cav across the river to take the rest of the Northmen pop centres, as well as the Dwarven holdings in the Iron Hills.
Lastly, position your armies in key areas where an attack might take place (or where you can respond to an attack) and sit tight. Watch the war to see how it's going. If the Dark Servants are winning (which they should be), kick back and enjoy the show; you did your part by eliminating two Free Powers. If they're losing, consider sending a cav force to trouble spots to bail them out (make sure they're suitably grateful for the timely assistance).
Characters
Of the first four character slots, I suggest two commander/agents and two emissaries. Since you'll be going to war fairly quickly, a rapid camp development program isn't as crucial as it otherwise might be; two emissaries are good enough. The commander/agents will be needed for the campaign, and should be sent to the north (where you start with only one command character per army).
Come turn 6, name one more emissary and two more commander agents. This might seem like too many commanders, but it's necessary if you want to guard your primaries and develop your skill points at the same time. You might want to hold off a bit on naming the commander/agents, as depending on your recruiting schedule your treasury could be too low for multi-class characters at this point.
Speaking of developing skills, this is critical if you want to place in the game. In comparison to other Dark Servants, your character base is pretty lousy. By naming double-class commander/agents and playing a military game, you give yourself the opportunity to train nearly every character in two skills per turn (which is something most Dark Servants don't have the resources to do). You should also position your starting double-class characters to do the same thing.
As time goes on, your characters will get better much faster than those of the Dark Servants, eventually putting you ahead of the weaker nations. This in turn will boost your victory points and give you the opportunity to place.
The Economy
It's always a good idea to have a few new villages and towns laying around. As soon as you're able, have your emissaries move off-map to the south and east to begin placing camps in the rough and mountains. Once a half-dozen are down, improve them to villages, then again to towns. With 3 emissaries, you should be able to accomplish this by turn 15 or 20.
This gives your economy a needed boost in both taxes and resources, and does so in pop centres that the Dark Servants can't see. If you're so inclined, you could raise one town to a major town, in case it's necessary to transfer the capitol to avoid agent attacks in the end-game.
Emissaries
Aside from making new pop centres, the primary reason for creating emissaries is to allow them to take double agents later in the game. I'm working off the assumption that the Dark Servants will try to knock you out of first place even if you join them, so this is a rather paranoid strategy. Hey, better safe than sorry.
After you emissaries have become demi-gods through camp placement and town creation, they're ready to go forth and double all of those nasty Mordor characters which may later cause you problems. By attaching them to a team led by a commander/agent of skill, you can move into an area and scout, then have your emissaries double anyone who shows up. You can do this in Free pop centres (DS agens will probably be here anyway), claiming that you're 'Influencing Other'.
Over time, you'll wrack up quite a substantial list of doubled characters, all of whom will probably fail if they try to assassinate or kidnap your people. You'll also be able to see mass agent migrations moving in your direction, giving you time to move your capitol and hide your characters and armies. This is rather easy to do, as Mordor's regional maps contain many gaps.
Imagine the frustration of an enemy who can never seem to find you, or who always fails assassination orders. It's sweet, I can tell you! And it ensures that you'll at least have a chance at winning the game.
Other Notes
Two other factors will have a big impact on how well you do: Harad and the Corsairs.
As I can testify from personal experience, either player can mount a pretty effective campaign against the Easterlings if they're being run by competent player (as the Easterlings in game 97 are finding out - heh heh heh). If one or (Sauron forbid) both go good, things could get very dicey in Khand.
On the other hand, if both go evil, they'll no doubt soar to first and second place, probably knocking you out of the running. Both nations are much better positioned to win than you are, and with all three southern neutrals in Sauron's hands the war is pretty much over for the Free.
Your best bet here is to have the most competent of the neutrals go evil, while the less competent go good. Talk to your future buddy nicely, complimenting him on his wit, skill, and personal hygiene.
Then send insulting and nasty cards to the other guy, trying to irk him into changing allegiance for the enemy. If luck is with you, the two southern neutrals will wreck each other, leaving only a battered and much-reduced survivor to continue on. Certainly not someone who'll be able to challenge you for first place. A war between these two will also secure Khand against a southern attack.
In Conclusion
My comments were all based on a declaration for the Dark Servants. Fact is, I can't see much point at all in going good, unless you're the suicidal type (or Mordor is very incompetent). If you do, good luck; I don't see how you can do this and still end up placing if Mordor has a half-decent Cloud Lord.
Strategy & Tactics: The Easterlings
By William "Rock" Chasko
The Easterlings are the only neutral to share the perpexling problems faced by the Dwarves and Sindar: highly dispersed pop centres. This makes the development of a reasonable opening strategy difficult until the first few turns have been played, when the stance of the FP and DS toward the Easterlings becomes a little more clear.
The Easterling production levels are quite reasonable; the only potential problem will be trying to generate 6,000 units of food per turn to keep the 3,000 cavalry mobile, but that will only be necessary if the Easterlings pursue an aggressive military strategy.
CHARACTER PLAY
The Easterlings are equipped with two good commanders and two good backup commanders. Unfortunately, all four of these commanders are in command of separate armies at the beginning of the game.
Cautious players should consider having Kav Makow and Urdrath move/join the two cav armies to insure they are not eliminated by a sudden DS agent assault early in the game. The Easterlings have 60 points of agent rank scattered over five characters; this should be adequate for defensive purposes, particularly if the E'lings go DS.
Emissary rank is ZERO - a deficiency which must be rapidly remedied.
Mage strength is adequate for combat use and limited lore use. Gorovod is a medium strength mage with agent rank. I have often considered how interesting it would be to develop such a character to, say, 0/40/0/65, get him the "curses" spell, and then have him scout army and cast "curses" on the enemy army commander turn after turn...but I've never found the time to make the investment in character development - and "Spirit Mastery" artefacts are not exactly common...
Assuming that the E'ling is not attacked in a co-ordinated fashion by either (or both) allegiances early in the game (often turn 1 in grudge games), I would recommend that the first four new E'ling characters all be emissaries.
Spend 10k on turn one to build a pure emissary. Have him build another on turn 2, and have both of them build two more on turn 3. Get all four of these guys working putting in camps in the rough hexes south of hex row 36 (exclusive) where the Blind Sorcerer can't see them. Also put camps in the rough and mountain hexes along the east map edge. The Blind Sorcerer can't see the even numbered hexes in hex column 43 or any hexes in column 44. You might consider spending 10k to build ONE pure agent, if you want to play the offensive agent game, but I don't recommend it.
With the new agent rules, it takes too long to develop an agent into an effective, survivable thief. The extra emissary should provide a much better return on your investment.
Only Gorovod has a reasonable chance to play the artefact game, but why bother? Artefact hunting is an order- eating, time-consuming, character-killing endeavour.
Consider: a 20 point command artefact might take 8 to 10 orders to secure; placing a CO as a subordinate commander in an army and having him issue three or four 430 orders, while the commander issues 435's generates the same effect, with fewer orders and no risk to the characters involved. If your individual victory conditions include terminations or acquisition of several artefacts
This is still better than developing your own artefact- hunting capabilities.
ECONOMICS
The Easterlings have a reasonable tax base and resource base. Unfortunately, retaining their widely scattered pop centres may prove a problem. The rule of thumb is if E'lings go FP they lose the south, and if they go DS they lose the north. These effects can be reduced by appropriate timing of the allegiance change.
Regardless, serious loss of pop centres is likely when (and often BEFORE) you make a declaration. To compensate, the E'lings should institute an aggressive camp creation program. Start with the invisible hexes listed above. If you turn DS, you can expand throughout the rough hexes around your capital. If you go FP, you should negotiate territory in Gondor, Enedwaith, and/or the far north-west for camp placement, and be SURE to have the FP's give you a secure backup capital (2223 in South Gondor would be primo). Because the climate will remain HOT throughout the game year in your southern regions, you should experience little effect from the change of seasons. There are some modest exceptions. Any camps you place in the mountains will drop from 100% to 60% production in winter. This could have a serious impact on your gold and metals production. If you are dependent upon the sale of non- metal resources to keep your economy afloat, a crisis could arise during the transition from fall to winter. Your LE-FO-MO production in your northern pop centres drops, in some cases, from 80 to 30%, while your GO-BR- ST-MI production in your southern mountain pop centres goes from 100% to 60%. Watch out for this; it will not be a problem if you are prepared.
You have two reasonable options regarding tax rates. You can change to 39% (getting 0-2 increase in morale at each pop centre each turn, mean of 1). Or you can change to 59% (getting -1 to +1 each turn, mean of 0). [Tom's note: these are pre-change figures, the range is wider now. Also note that 59% and 60% are in the same bracket.]
If you are pursuing an aggressive strategy, building armies and making an early declaration of allegiance, consider increasing to 59%. If you are going to increase taxes, do it on or before turn 4; that way, you will not lose any of your new camps due to the loyalty changes from the 19% tax increase. If you are pursuing a more conservative strategy, you won't need as much gold, and the 39% tax rate will insure that you won't need to guard against loss of the first camps you place due to random loyalty changes.
Another dramatic economic option that bears consideration - especially if you are pursuing a conservative strategy - is dumping some or all of the food in your armies into your pop centres and selling it. The E'ling armies start with 37,000 food - that can be converted directly to gold, and, if you are very lucky, you might get two gold apiece for some of it.
MILITARY SITUATION
The E'ling military situation...words like "complex", "difficult" and "impossible" come to mind. There is little that I can say that would be very helpful because so much depends upon the actions of the other players. I have seen or heard of anti-Easterling military blitzes being launched on the first turn by both the FP and the DS.
In game 56, a grudge game, this was done by BOTH allegiances on the first turn! While this kind of action is more common in grudge or team games, with the advent of e-mail, it is not uncommon for players to be in contact before turn 1 is played even in non-team/non- grudge games. ...and the Easterling is so spread out, the temptation to hit him, especially in the north is hard for the FP to resist. Unless you know which allegiance you want to join at the beginning of the game, there is little concrete advice I can give about military options until you have seen the results of a turn or two and can gauge the wind.
Assuming you don't have a definite idea about which side to join, mull over these ideas. You have two strong cav armies and two pitiful leg armies. One of each is located north of Mordor, and one of each start the game in your capital. In the north, on turn 1, consider moving the army at Ilanin to Riavod (4014) with the intent of concentrating your forces at your most defensible northern pop centre. Stay off the roads as you do this; follow the route 3714, 3814, etc. An unexpected collision with either allegiance on turn 1 can cause a lot of frustration and resentment, and may get you into a battle you don't want. If either side is trying an anti-E'ling blitz in the north, combining your armies on your only northern fortification gives you the best chance of holding something and/or doing your enemies some damage. In the south, consider moving the cav army to Khand Amu (4228). This defends your MT should the DS be trying an anti-E'ling first turn blitz (that evil eye symbol on your map at 4324 is a Long Rider cav army) and also prepares for further northward movement and the combination of your two cav armies should you decide to join the DS. There is no way you can defend everything in the north, especially if the FP attack you early in the game. If neither side shows aggressive intent early on, and you decide to ride the fence for a while, consider posting your northern cav army at Mistrand (4318). This puts your two cav armies just one turn away from each other with both able to react to aggression from either allegiance in both the north and the south. Also, if you are going to stay neutral for awhile, consider retiring the leg armies - especially the one in the south.
As you anticipate the beginning of military operations, recruit more cavalry. You are initially a formidable military power. Make yourself MORE formidable.
Discreetly leak that fact to the other players. Deter aggression. If you turn FP, a tower or fort at Khand Amu is also a very good idea.
DIPLOMACY
Diplomacy is the heart of the game for me. If there are no blitzes forcing your hand early on, how well you do diplomatically will strongly affect your success in the game.
The biggest difficulty you will have diplomatically is convincing the FP that you are seriously considering turning FP. One way to make this option seem realistic to the FP players is to start negotiations for a backup capital in a safe part of FP territory. This should be a place where there is also potential to put in some lucrative camps. I recommend sending out 3x5's on turn 1, stating that your price for turning FP is an MT in a safe location. See if anybody comes up with a concrete offer. If they do, give it serious consideration. You can turn FP successfully around turn 6 - 10 provided that the Cloud Lord, Blind Sorcerer and other Mordorion DS armies have moved off to war and have been attrited in combat. Be sure and have agent guards prepared for your army commanders and capital if you make this choice. The DS can really work on your isolated capital with character actions, and you are several turns removed from any quality FP character assistance.
Your problem negotiating with the DS is their PRESUMPTION that you will turn DS. You have to be coy enough with them to make them work for your allegiance, but not so coy as to make them believe you will turn good and are just toying with them. Usually, it is sufficient to say something like: "I'm seriously considering several offers from players of both sides" (almost always the truth!) to make them take you seriously.
The Easterlings is a difficult position which should be played by someone who is flexible and who likes coping with the unexpected. Almost anything can happen with this position; even early in the game, your armies may be fighting anywhere: Mirkwood, Rhun, Rhovaion, the Ithil Pass, Khand, Harad, Umbar... If you are jumped by one of the allegiances early on, you may face a long fight back to the top. Some players thrive on that kind of challenge - if you're one of them, try the Easterlings!